Sweet-tea

ABSTRACT

This invention comprises a permeable tea bag and a mixture of tea leaves and a sweetener within the tea bag. The tea bag containing the tea leaves and sweetener will be deposited in a cup of hot water and will be removed once a sufficient amount of brewing time elapses. The tea would be sweetened and brewed and be ready for consumption at this time, preventing the need to add sugar or other sweetener after brewing.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Non-Provisional patent application does not claim priority to anyUnited States provisional patent application or any foreign patentapplication.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosures made herein relate generally to tea or coffee. Theinvention discussed herein is in the general classification of tea bags.

BACKGROUND

Tea can be enjoyed in a variety of forms. These include traditional teasand a variety of herbal teas as well as green tea and black tea. Teasare usually made by placing a tea bag into a cup of hot water. Most teabags consist of tea leaves contained within a small bag. The bag isusually highly porous to allow the water to penetrate the tea leaves.The material used in tea bags does not break down on contact with hotwater but is thin enough to allow a free exchange of water and tea-leafoils and extracts. The tea bags are usually round or square in shape andare sized to hold enough tea leaves to brew one cup of tea. A string isusually attached to the tea bag to make it easier to remove the bagafter brewing is complete.

Often, a sweetener, such as sugar, is added to the tea. The majority ofconsumers add the sweetener to the tea after it is brewed. This can bean inconvenience for people who like to take their favorite type of teabags with them to work or while traveling, as it requires them to alsotransport sugar or other sweeteners. To date, no tea bags with sweeteneralready added exist in the marketplace.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Sweet-Tea utilizes a conventional tea bag and fills it with a mixture oftea and a sweetener to allow the automatic addition of the sweetenerwhen the tea is brewed. The tea bag containing the tea and sweetener canbe deposited in a cup of hot water and removed once a sufficient amountof brewing time elapses. The tea will be sweetened and brewed and beready for consumption at this time.

Although the invention described herein is often referred to asSweet-Tea, it should be understood that it could be used for a varietyof applications in the food industry.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a tea and sweetenermixture within a tea bag that will allow the tea extracts and oils andsweetener to mix with hot water when placed in a container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tea and sweetenermixture within a tea bag that is easy to use and transport.

Yet another object this invention is to provide an affordable tea andsweetener mixture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 depicts a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of theinvention cut along section A-A.

FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Sweet Tea is comprised of at least some of the following: a permeablebag and a mixture of tea leaves and a sweetener.

In the preferred embodiment of the tea bag, shown in FIG. 1, a thin,permeable outer membrane 1 surrounds the tea leaf and sweetener mixture(not pictured). The membrane 1 is roughly circular in shape and isconnected to a tea bag string (not pictured).

FIG. 2 reveals the tea leaf and sweetener mixture 2 that is containedwithin the tea bag. The tea leaf and sweetener mixture 2 can be of anytype of tea or sweetener. Common teas include: traditional tea, herbalteas, green tea and black tea. Common sweeteners include: sugar,NutraSweet, Equal, and Sweet-N-Low.

FIG. 3 depicts an alternative embodiment of the invention with a thin,permeable membrane 4 that is roughly rectangular in shape. It also has atea bag string 3 to aid in the removal of the tea bag from a cup of tea.

Sweet-Tea is designed to allow a user to easily transport tea bags withsweetener in one convenient bag. To use Sweet-Tea, the tea bagcontaining the tea and sweetener will be deposited in an appropriatelysized cup of hot water and will be removed once a sufficient amount ofbrewing time elapses. The tea will be sweetened and brewed and be readyfor consumption at this time.

The tea bags of the present invention will be offered with differenttypes of tea and strengths and types of sweetener. For example, the teabags can have the equivalent of one packet of sweetener or two packetsof sweetener. Both sugar and various types of artificial sweeteners willbe offered. It should be obvious that any shape or size tea bag could beutilized in this invention. Any type or strength of sweetener or teacould also be utilized.

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that changes ormodifications may be made to the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the broad inventive concepts of the invention. It shouldtherefore be understood that this invention is not limited to theparticular embodiments described herein, but is intended to include allchanges and modifications that are within the scope and spirit of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

1. A tea bag comprising a permeable outer membrane surrounding a tealeaf and sweetener mixture.
 2. The tea bag of claim 1 wherein thepermeable outer membrane is roughly rectangular in shape.
 3. The tea bagof claim 1 wherein the permeable outer membrane is roughly circular inshape.
 4. The tea bag of claim 1 further comprising a tea bag stringconnected to the permeable outer membrane.
 5. The tea bag of claim 1wherein the permeable outer membrane is made of paper.
 6. The tea bag ofclaim 1 wherein the tea leaf and sweetener mixture contains sugar. 7.The tea bag of claim 1 wherein the tea leaf and sweetener mixturecontains artificial sweeteners.
 8. A tea bag comprising a circular,permeable outer membrane surrounding a tea leaf and sweetener mixturewherein the circular, permeable outer membrane is connected to a tea bagstring and the tea leaf and sweetener mixture contains sugar.